Article by Katie Ham for The Post
On the evening of November 30, Sean Remnant’s wife and young son dropped him off to have beers at a house in Porirua on their way back from celebrating a 50th birthday.
He wouldn’t be home late, Sean said, as he kissed the duo goodbye and entered a faded weatherboard house tucked on a hill in the sleepy suburb of Elsdon.
They were the last words Sean’s wife, who The Post has agreed not to name for her safety, would hear. She awoke the next morning to an empty bed.
“It was my birthday, so it was especially weird. He never didn’t come home. I tried calling him twice but he didn’t answer. Half an hour later I got a call from the hospital.”
Sean had been admitted to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition after emergency services were called to an address on Kotuku St in the early hours of December 1. He never regained consciousness and died three days later.
Do you know more about what happened to Sean Remnant? Email [email protected]
It’s now been seven weeks since the 43-year-old painter and decorator was killed. To date, no arrests have been made, but The Post understands there were four other people inside the address at the time Sean sustained his fatal injuries.
A ‘superdad’ with a passion for the NRL
Born and bred in Nelson, Sean was the middle child of the Remnant whānau, sandwiched in between an older brother and a younger sister who he followed to Wellington when she moved for university.
Within “five minutes” of being in the capital, Sean met his soon-to-be-wife on a night out. As the daughter of a painter, she understood the demands of Sean’s job and the drive needed to be self-employed.
“He loved his work. He really cared for the people he trained, and would encourage them to get apprenticeships. He loved helping other people and really wanted them to succeed,” his wife recalls.
Even more than his work, however, Sean loved his family and was a proud father to his 6-year-old son.
“They had their own little morning routine, where they’d sit on the sofa eating toast together and then Sean would drop him at school, having done their daily wave check.
“We’d always sit together and eat in the evenings too. I think that’s the part [our son] is struggling with the most now. Those were their times together.”
One of Sean’s family’s biggest worries about the future is how to keep his memory alive for his young son. As his sister says: “It’s the greatest privilege and responsibility to have to carry Sean’s name and memory into a future that he’s not part of any more.”
The trio spent two weeks in Japan in April 2024 and were booked for a tour of the UK just a week after Sean died.
“[Our son] was so excited because we were going to take him to Paris, which he’d fallen in love with watching the Olympics. I can’t even count how many Eiffel Towers he drew.”
Vying for a top spot in Sean’s affections was Australia’s National Rugby League competition, which he was “beyond obsessed” with. He’d collect and trade vintage memorabilia, and left behind a storage container full of stuff.
“He had an Instagram page that he ran, which built up 4600 followers in a very short period of time, so he was committing to building that.”
In keeping with Sean’s love of sport, the last activity the extended Remnant family did together was go to a Wellington Phoenix FC game. In the last photo of them all together, Sean is wearing a vintage jersey from the very first season.
But most of all Sean loved people, and since his death his family have come to realise quite how widely he was loved back, with people from all around the community reaching out to pay their respects.
“He liked anyone, from any walk of life. He took people as they were, and would chat to anybody no matter what their background was,” his sister says.
“He truly didn’t have a violent bone in his body, which is why what happened was so shocking and senseless.”
‘It seems like they left him for dead’
After a “great day” celebrating a friend’s birthday, Sean asked his wife if it would be all right if she dropped him at the house on Kotuku St on their way home.
“He said he was going to have a few beers. He knew one of them through people he’d socialised with before, but hadn’t seen them for a while.
“It wasn’t unusual for us to go and hang out with our different pockets of friends, but this wasn’t his usual group of friends. I don’t know them at all, but I don’t think he’d have gone in there if he thought it was unsafe,” his wife recalls.
What happened inside the house remains a mystery. All Sean’s family know is that he sustained a serious injury to the left side of his head, which is described on the interim coroner’s certificate as caused by “blunt force”.
Citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation, police haven’t been able to share details of what they’re doing to determine what happened. Instead the family have formed their own views, based on observations from his bedside in hospital.
“Looking at the head wound, it was really prevalent. It wasn’t a hit or a punch or a first. To me, my opinion is that it looked like an item of some kind was involved,” his sister says.
During Sean’s time in hospital, his whānau combed his body looking for defensive wounds, but couldn’t find any.
“There was no sign he was able to defend himself, so as a family we feel that he didn’t know what was coming.”
Perhaps worst of all, the family have learned he was left without medical attention for an extended period of time.
“When he was in hospital we found out that he’d sustained two massive brain injuries, neither of which would have been survivable in their own right.
“One of those was that he wasn’t breathing for about 20 to 30 minutes. It seems like they left him for dead. I feel sick thinking about it,” Sean’s sister says.
They all agree there is no chance he would have said or done anything to provoke violence.
“We just can’t reconcile what happened that night with the man we knew.
“It’s just so frustrating that these are the people that Sean gets associated with, but he was so much more than just that one night. He was all of these other wonderful things to so many people.”
What small comfort the Remnant family can draw from Sean’s time inside the Kotuku St address is that he didn’t die there.
“We got to be with him at the end. We’re so grateful that he didn’t have to stay in that place, and we got to cuddle him and he was warm for us. He didn’t die with them.”
‘In our darkest hour, he provided light to other families’
Sean’s final gift was being able to donate his organs. So far, his family are aware of three lives he’s saved by donating his heart and kidneys.
They’re still waiting to hear if Sean’s eyes can be donated, which could save the vision of up to four people with each eye.
“In our darkest hour, he provided light to other families, and I just know he would have loved that,” his sister says.
Sean’s whānau thanked the team at Wellington Hospital’s ICU and emergency department, Wellington Free Ambulance, and Organ Donation New Zealand for the dignity they provided him with in his final days.
“You can’t put it into words really. It meant everything to us.”
‘We don’t want Sean to be an unsolved homicide’
Two weeks after Sean died, police announced that they were treating his death as a homicide.
According to Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Middlemiss, police are continuing to work through “a range of information” to establish what had happened on the night of November 30 and into December 1.
“We’d like to hear from anyone who has information, CCTV footage or dashcam footage around the Kotuku St area that could assist with this investigation.”
As the weeks turn into months since Sean was killed, his family are determined to find out what happened to him.
“Someone chose to play God that night and the ricochet effect has been devastating. We read that there are 20 unsolved homicides in New Zealand and we don’t want Sean to be another one. We need justice and we need to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Sean’s wife says.
The Remnants ask that anyone with any information “no matter how small” contact police as soon as possible.
“We’ve lost a husband, a father, a son, a son-in-law, a brother, a brother-in-law, an uncle, a nephew, a cousin, a godfather, a friend. He meant so much to so many people.”
Anyone with any information about what happened to Sean is asked to contact the police either online through 105.police.govt.nz or by calling 105, referencing the file number: 241201/7304.
Alternatively, information can be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Article written by Katie Ham
- The Post https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/